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I personally love this book, i have been reading it over and over during a 10+ year period. I discovered it in highschool, and i have probably read it over 30 x. Its awesome to me. I would recommend trying it out.

Vivian is one of a pack of werewolves displaced & reeling after the recent death of their leader. With her once-happy pack divided into power-squabbles, Vivian notices a human boy and tries to take comfort in his comparatively peaceful world...but can she be satisfied with a human-only existence, and can she hide her true nature from him?
The important thing to remember here is that these are not humans-bitten-and-becoming-werewolves; these werewolves are a different species that sometimes look human but really are not and never have been. Therefore they have completely different moral codes (centered around what's best for the pack) and ways of thinking and interacting (centered around one's rank in the pack). Vivian is completely frank about her sexuality, unapologetically open about her physical attraction to this or that guy and not shy about making a move if she wants to. The social structure of the pack upsets many readers--males fight for leadership, and female rank is based on their mate's position, not on themselves, so unattached females may try to 'steal' or fight over a powerful mate (which makes them dangerous to other females); however, more than one character is unhappy with this, so the females aren't blindly accepting of it.
If you can accept the 'rules' of the author's version of werewolves and aren't put off by horny teenage feelings and rivalries, you might enjoy the coming-of-age teen angst and mild paranormal adventure. If you're very strongly attached to the traditional notions of werewolves as infected or cursed humans, you might have a harder time.

Yes, Vivian is cruel and selfish, but this is often considered in terms of her being a human - not a werewolf. If we're to focus on the "wolf" part of her nature, her behavior isn't at all surprising. I'd actually be willing to say that it's probably one of the more honest depictions of a female werewolf as opposed to "a girl who can transform into a wolf". I might also note that she was never human - she was born that way. That said, she is flawed and throughout the book continues to wrestle with herself. She goes after the human boy Aiden because it's something she wants. It's a challenge. While I also find the ending a bit jarring, the one she ends up with proves to be an antidote. It could be argued that he was chosen out of convenience, yet I disagree. Throughout the novel Vivian insists that she doesn't want him, disobeys him even because he is discouraging her to end her relationship with Aiden. In the end, what she wants nearly kills her, and he proves to be not what she wants, but what she needs.

First of all, I would call this book a cheap knock-off of Andrea R. Cremer's Nightshade, but it seems this book was published first. Anyways, first of all, I found the writer's style rather strange. Perhaps it was just me, but she seemed to use a lot of strange adjectives without actually describing Vivian's surroundings very much. Secondly, the sexual content in this book is most certainly not safe for your granny. Nothing was described too outright, but I know some of you won't appreciate the frequent innuendos. Also, Vivian's character irritated me; she is selfish, rude, and nearing mean at the beginning. And if I had a nickel for every time she gave someone the finger...

By about page 70, though, I was curious about how the author would pull this off. Which brings me to the part about the ending darkmanifest's post summed up quite well. The author (and the character) seem to give up on all they had worked on throughout the story and simply make the easiest choice for their future. Any other author wouldn't have thrown the plot to the side like that, but Klause is different than "any other author".

If you do decide to give it a try, I suppose it's small, so it won't waste too much time. Just be sure to keep it away from your granny.

this book has a good outline and ending that i would have never guessed

shaewarren
Apr 29, 2012

Excellent book, lush and sensual and realistic, one of the best werewolf books I've ever read (and I've read a lot) with only one glaring flaw: The girl ends up with an overbearing, abusive jerk in the end (I won't say which, since there are several of them vying for her attention throughout the story). Why this is so stubbornly consistent over so many young adult books regardless of time period or quality will baffle me until the end of time. Besides that, though, this is a werewolf novel that makes most of today's popular stuff look like drivel in comparison. Highly recommended.

Imani Taylor
Feb 15, 2012

one of the best books I ever read ! very good.....But I wish they would make a part two of the book.